The Impact of Experiential Learning on Teacher Pedagogy and Student Achievement

With current efforts in educational reform focusing on rigor and a deeper understanding of concepts, experiential learning can serve as an ideal vehicle for schools and districts to encourage the shifts in educational practice that are required to meet these new, more rigorous demands. Opportunities for experiential tasks should be available to both teachers and students in order to enrich curricular plans and provide support for the implementation of Common Core Standards and the more rigorous testing that accompany it. This research attempts to examine the knowledge and implementation of experiential learning strategies and tasks in classrooms as well as the opportunities available for teachers to participate in experiential opportunities to provide both personal and professional enrichment. The information collected was used to prescribe a path forward to increase the use of experiential education in K-12 settings not only to improve student achievement and growth as measured by standardized assessments but also to instill a love of learning and the experiences it can provide in all students.